Arming Teachers is the Worst Idea of 2018

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In the last 18 years, over 187,000 students have been present at school shootings and experienced a traumatizing event. Many concerned citizens across America are protesting and arguing for teachers to be armed with guns in schools. Not a good idea. President Trump initially proposed the idea of arming teachers during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of Washington, DC. He stated “Well-trained, gun-adept teachers and coaches [should carry firearms in schools.]” He also explained “I mean, I don’t want to have a hundred guards with rifles standing all over the school. You do a concealed carry permit. This would be a major deterrent, because these people are inherently cowards.”

Having guns in schools would only have a negative impact on the country by causing more violence instead of protecting teacher and students. In the event of a school shooting, an innocent student could easily be caught in the crossfire as a result of an armed teacher.

Having guns in a ¨safe environment¨ like, a school, would ultimately defeat what makes schools ¨safe.¨ If teachers had guns available this could cause students to feel insecure, as some staff are unreliable. Zach Daudet, a freshman at CHS says, “ I don’t think it (arming school staff) is an effective solution. It would only scare the students more and could cause more violence.”

Worse, any official decision permitting guns in schools will symbolize America adapting to the “inevitability” school shootings. Instead of accepting that they will happen, public officials should be taking the measures to stop them entirely. Having these extremely dangerous items in a social space would give the setting an uncomfortable, and more threatening feeling.

There are several more protective options that would be a better option than arming teachers. For example, the Nightlike Lockdown is a simple, modern lock that interlocks at floor level so intruders cannot reach through the window to access a lock. School officials could install these gadgets on all classroom doors instead of giving guns to only some of the faculty.

Others in favor of arming teachers may argue that only volunteer teachers that have participated in proper training would be allowed to be armed. In addition, many schools cannot afford the required expense of purchasing and providing guns, training and the safes/lockboxes teachers would need as a holding space.

Arming the teachers in schools will be a transformational “advance.” It will affect children all over America to feel a loss of security. There is no valid reason for not adopting more appropriate solutions like the Nightlike Lockdown lock. Something must be done about the school shootings across America, but putting guns in the hands of America’s educators is an extreme measure unfitting of the situation.